Why Pawar Didn’t Act against Vilasrao Deshmukh...

Perhaps for the first time in last 22 years, Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar revealed on Tuesday why he did not take any action against Vilasrao Deshmukh, then a minister in his cabinet, during the famous coup of January 2013. He said he did not touch Deshmukh simply because the latter did not act of his own and was guided from leaders in New Delhi.

Pawar was speaking after releasing a book comprising of reminisces and tributes on late Vilasrao Deshmukh whose first death anniversary was observed on August 14. Deshmukh was one of triumvirate other two being Sushilkumar Shinde and Ramrao Adik. While Shinde, then state Congress president, had to relinquish his job, Adik faded into oblivion in later years.

In that famous coup which lasted for about a week, Deshmukh and others had openly demanded resignation from Pawar, then Chief Minister of Maharashtra, for failing on many fronts and questioning his loyalty to the Congress party.

Pawar lashes out at Maha CM over delay in clearing files

"Rajiv Gandhi called me in New Delhi and said, 'What is going on in Maharashtra?' to which I asked back, 'You ask me this, of all?' Then he said that he had just asked the trio to shake the tree a little and not to uproot it. Then Rajiv Gandhi asked me what action I wanted to take against Deshmukh? I replied none because I thought Deshmukh did not do anything on his own but he was operated by someone else,” he said.

He also said that it was Deshmukh who came to him and submitted his resignation for crossing the limits of cabinet conventions as a minister. “But I assured him that he was not at fault and allowed him to continue as minister in which he excelled as always,” Pawar recalled.

Pawar cited Deshmukh's nack of going through the files and take quick and proper decisions. “It is a mark of good administrator that he does not require to read and go through all that is written in it. He would quickly assess the grievance of person coming to him. And today, there are people who would shake inside out at the mention of signing on the file. It is as though they develop temporary paralysis when signing on the file,” he said.

Pawar's jibe was targeted at Chavan whom he had criticized number of times for his style of functioning. He had in the past said that Chavan sits on the file and does not clear them because of which development work is hampered. In the program on Wednesday, he said, “When the rulers do not take decisions, the common man suffers. There is nothing wrong in deciding on matters which are important for the development and the state.”

While reminiscing Deshmukh's role in building cooperatives in his region, Pawar also said that he was not happy with the state of cooperatives in the state today. “They have become one-man rule and the main purpose is defeated,” he said.

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City Congress Pays Tribute To Vilasrao Deshmukh

The city’s Congress workers and leaders offered their condolences to the demised leader, Vilasrao Deshmukh, on Wednesday after the flag hoisting ceremony.  His close associates in the city remembered the departed leader’s quality as a bankable friend who made great contributions to the development of the city.

 Deshmukh had a special affinity with Pune and it was during his tenure as CM that the city got three Minisers of State. Balasaheb Shivarkar, former MoS in Deshmukh’s cabinet and a close associate, said, “He was a leader whose actions matched the words. He would shower love on workers whom he liked and I was fortunate to be one among them. I don’t have own brother, but he loved me more than a brother. He kept to his word at any cost. His death is a great a loss to Congress party.”

 Explaining Deshmukh’s role in Pune’s growth, Shivarkar said while on way to Latur for Deshmukh’s last rites, “The roads, overbridges  and railway overbridges in the city came up during his tenure. Katraj by-pass and IT park at Hinjwadi were among two big examples. As CM, he helped the city during Commonwealth Youth Games. He loved Pune very much and reminisced often about the 11 years spent in Pune.”

 Ulhas Pawar, one of the closest associates of Deshmukh not only in Pune but in Maharashtra, was inconsolable. On his way to Latur, one of his aides said he was not in a situation to speak anything. Later, the MLC said that he could not believe that his friend of 40-42 years was no more.

 Chandrakant Chajed, also a former MoS and close friend of Deshmukh since his college days, “Deshmukh, Gopinath Mundhe and I were studying together at INS Law College. I used to send him off to stand for Latur on my scootes. His speciality was that he never distanced his old friends even after assuming prominence.”

 MP Suresh Kalmadi also expressed his grief over Deshmukh’s demise. In the condolence message, he said, “The untimely death of Union Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh has saddened me. He was a very statesmanlike, studious leader with a great presence of mind who took everyone along with him. He was a mass leader in true sense. It makes me sad to lose a virtuous friend in him. He put Maharashtra ahead always as a Chief Minister. A visionary leader with a fighting spirit has been lost with his death.”

 Nationalist Congress MP Vandana Chavan also condoled Deshmukh’s passing away. In her message, she said, “Deshmukh was a cultured politician in state as well as country with a big heart. It is saddening that a leader who communicated directly with masses who steered state & country on the path of progress through able administration has been lost. Deshmukh often guided and encouraged the functionaries including me.”

 City party president Abhay Chhajed, convened the condolence meeting for the departed leader at 11 AM on Wednesday. A board was put up at the party’s headquarter Congress House  on Tuesday and also conveyed to the party members informing about the meeting.

 Ramchandra Bhuvad, a veteran of Congress party and Seva Dal, said, “The party’s flag can not be hoisted above the height of the national tri-colour. Hence, we removed the party’s flag from the building on August 9. Now, we are to hold the flag hoisting ceremony at 10.15 AM and then bring the tri-colour at half as a grief periodAfterwards, when the national flag is taken down, the party flag will be hoisted and it will also be brought at half.”

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Maharashtra's Stale Politics

Ever since Prthviraj Chavan has taken over as the chief minister of Maharashtra, the politics of the state has become too stale and bereft of political drama. One reason behind this is that Chavan is not a shrewd and professional politician like his predeccecors Ashok Chavan and Vilasrao Deshmukh. He is more of a bureaucratic personality which pervades his political acumen. Much unlike his fraternity, he is not a public figure in the sense that he rarely is seen sorrounded by workers or common public. He has carefully placed himself away from the masses creating a halo around himself. Chavan has spent most of his tenure in centre and in that sense, he is yet to accommodate himself in the state's politicians.

In the initial days of his tenure as the CM of Maharashtra, Chavan was seen superceded by his deputy Ajit Pawar, who is a Nationalist Congress Party leader. Pawar had then conducted separate meetings with bureaucrats and appeared to have taken many decisions much against the wishes of Chavan. But soon, that euphoria also got disappeared. 

 

What we are now seeing is a kind of a boring drama where all the actors are just bidding their time before their final exit. Their body language gives an expression that they are not happy with the stage but their invisible director has forced them to show themselves before the audience, which in any way is not entertained at all.

It is not that Chavan himself does not understand this. But he is preoccupied himself with the task of appearing clean in the eyes of public which was least bewildered to see his predeccecor Ashok Chavan leaving his office in the aftermath of the Adarsh Society scam. Apparently, the Prithviraj Chavan's brief is to keep his party, Congress, away from scandals or scams. In the bargain, it is nobody's concern that performance is compromised.

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Politics is family business in Maharashtra

State legislature assembly elections in Maharashtra are scheduled for October 13 in Maharashtra. All major parties in engaged in finalising the list of candidates. While the electoral clashes are heading towards theatrical and interesting, one bit of the polling is prominent. In each politicl party, the election is a family business. Leaders across the board have their offsprings or kins in the fray without a trace of remorse.

Leading the way is Congress which makes an obvious choice for hereditary politics. Since the time of Indira Gandhi, Congress workers are accustomed to bow before their anointed leader on the single virtue of coming from an influential family. This time around, party will have little space to take newcomers on board while struggling to make justice with sons and daughters of its leaders. Chief minister Ashok Chavan himself is such a politician who happens to be son of Shankarrao Chavan, the late Congress leader. Having graced posts of home minister and finance minister at New Delhi as also CM of Maharashtra twice, Shankarrao passed on his legacy to Ashokrao. He first tasted political water in 1987 by becoming Member of Parliament from Nanded, the seat was vacated by his father to become CM of Maharashtra. Ashokrao's brother in law Bhaskarrao Patil Khatgaonkar is now MP from Nanded.

Another prominent politician is Vilasrao Deshmukh, former CM of Maharashtra and now union minister for heavy industries. While his son Ritesh is making waves in Bollywood, his second son Amit is sure to solicit votes from Latur constituency. District Congress committee of Latur has 'unanimously' recommended Amit's candidacy. Dilip Deshmukh, brother of Vilasrao is already in the state cabinet coming from State legislature Council. Vilasrao's junior in union cabinet Pratik Patil is grandson of Vasantdada Patil who won recently from Sangli parliamentary constituency. Madan Patil, another son of Vasantdada is minister of employment guarantee scheme in state cabinet of Maharashtra. Another heavyweight of Sangli, Patangrao Kadam, who holds the empire of Bharati Vidyapeeth in Pune, is trying to field his son Vishwajit Kadam in the race. If elected, he is sure to bag a post in cabinet as Patangao is himself revenue minister currently. Towering all them all will be Raosaheb Shekhawat, president of India Pratibhatai Patil's son. He want a ticket for himself from Amrawati constituency. Praniti Shinde, union power minister Sushilkumar Shinde's daughter is in tipped to be a candidates from the Solapur assembly constituency. She will be the third member from Shinde family second being ….... Vandana Shinde, wife of Sushilkumar. She contested the seat in 2004 when Sushilkumar was CM and still lost the election. Present school education minister in Maharashtra Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil is son of veteran leader Balasaheb Vikhe Patil. Likewise, higher education minister Rajesh Tope is son of veteran Congress leader Ankush Tope.

If the list above seems exhaustive, it is not. It gives only a glimpse of what how political space is full of dynastic endowments. After Congress, Nationalist Congress Party has also turned democracy into a kind of baton relay. NCP's chief has kept two parliamentary seats with him as well as his daughter Supriya Sule. Ajit Pawar, state's water resources minister and guardian minister of Pune is his nephew. Thus, decision making in NCP is controlled by the Pawar family. Besides him, Padmasingh Patil, who is brother in law of Sharad Pawar was elected from Usmanabad recently to Lok Sabha. He was later accused of murder of his cousing Pravinraje Nimbalkar. Though, Padmasinh's son Rana Jagjitsinh Patil is a minister in the state cabinet and sure to get a ticket from NCP. State's tourism minister Vijaysinh Mohite Patil has sent his son Ranjitsinh Mohite Patil to Rajya Sabha. Ganesh Naik, who has a large following in Navi Mumbai area, was in Shiv Sena earlier but later switched to NCP. He is bringing his son to front now. Chhagan Bhujbal, another heavyweight who shifted from Shiv Sena to NCP, is now deputy CM. His nephew Samir Bhujbal was recently sent to Lok Sabha from Yewala constituency.
Shiv Sena and BJP are also not free of this element. Truth of the matter is that Shiv Sena split twice because of dynastic tendency of its chief. So much so that Balasaheb Thackerey was not ready to part with leadership other than his son Uddhav. His nephew Raj Thackerey and a stalwart like Narayan Rane left the party because of this reason. It is another matter that Rane himself has sent his son Nitesh to Lok Sabha while keeping minister's post with himself. He has openly expressed his desire to become chief minister and it is to be seen whether Nilesh Rane, his another son throws his towel in the ring.

In BJP, Dhananjay Munde, nephew of Gopinath Munde, who is member of parliament from Beed now, is willing to contest from Beed for 's assembly seat. His daughter, Pankaja Palwe is said to be ready to jump in the fray. Poonam Mahajan, late leader Pramod Mahajan's daughter was enraged when she was denied a ticket in parliamentary elections. Munde, who is brother in law of Pramod Mahajan, also expressed his dissatisfaction over the denial. This time round, Poonam is tipped to get a ticket from Ghatkopar West constituency. Some other minor leaders will also try to pass on the baton to their kins.

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It is Deshmukh vs Pawar in Maharashtra

As the state assembly elections are nearing in Maharashtra, the political situation is taking very interesting turns. For a journalist, watching political developments unfolding is always a feast to the eyes. This time also the situation is no different. Congress and Nationalist Congress Party, who have shared the power for almost 10 years now are at loggerheads and opposition parties are also not in a better position. NCP has just completed 10 years of its existence and it has evolved from the Congress itself. In the last assembly elections, it managed to wrestle more seats than Congress and eventually claimed Chief Ministership. It was last moments at New Delhi deals that ensured five years rule of a Congressman at the helm.

That man being Vilasrao Deshmukh, he managed the state for four full years and could have continued had that fateful attack on Indian soil did not take in November 08. Deshmukh had to go from the political power from he is still an important man in the affairs of Congress party. He has a long rivalry with Sharad Pawar, who heads NCP starting from 1990 when Pawar was chief minister (then in Congress party) and Deshmukh was state industries minister. Deshmukh had rebelled (alongwith) Sushilkumar Shinde, currently union power minister and Ramrao Adik, who is nowhere in picture now. With his political acumen, Pawar survived that revolt but it created a permanent acrimony between two leaders. In the ensuing elections in 1995, Pawar was instrumental in the defeat of Deshmukh from the Latur constituency. It was so articulate a masterstroke that Deshmuk had to leave the Congress party only to return in 1997.

By 1999 assembly elections, things had changed so much. Shiv Sena & Bharatiya Janata Party alliance was in power and Congress was in the opposition benches. Just before the assembly elections, Pawar had left Congress and formed NCP. The two parties fought the elections separately and were surprised themselves when alliance was thrown out of power. The arithmetic of the seats forced two parties to come together, fulfilling Deshmukh's dream of becoming CM one day. But for him, his tenure from 1999 to 2004 was like 'Sleeping With the Enemy.' NCP tried every trick in the book to minimise Congress' reach and influence while strengthening its position manifold. Constant games and ploys by NCP reaped benefits in 2004 elections when NCP managed 71 seats while Congress could get 69 seats.

Surely Deshmukh did not forget this history when he, fresh from the victory in recently held Lok Sabha election, demanded that Congress should go alone in assembly elections. With NCP's influence fast eroding, Congressmen are toeing his line. Western Maharashtra is NCP's stronghold and when it could not get more than three seats (two of which are that of Pawar and his daughter Supriya Sule), Congressman do not see any reward in forging an alliance with the party. Pawar's image being a coy politician, few leaders in the state are comfortable with working with him. Leaders like Digvijay Singh are putting pressure on the leader with almost a statement a day asking to merge NCP in Congress. Chief minister Ashok Chavan seems to play no role in either joining hands or dissociating. He has given himself to the dictate from New Delhi and will move as per so called High Command's orders.

That brings the wrestling to Deshmukh and Pawar only. These two leaders are face to face even though Pawar is largely low profile owing to recent dribble in elections. Pawar had turned the side owing to caste equations. He had played Maratha card so cunningly to take NCP ahead of all parties. This time, Maratha organisations are already enraged over non-fulfilment of their demands. These organisations were an important aid in Pawar's political calculations, always providing a solid voter base the strongman. Also, Pawar's excessive reliance on these organisations have delineated other castes resulting in the unification of these castes. This was the primary reason why Gopinath Munde won with thumping majority in Beed and this is the reason why NCP could get only 8 Lok Sabha seats from among 48 seats. Pawar is also experiencing a deficit of support from Dalits and Muslims. The new mega alliance of splinter Dalit groups has added salt to the injury. Ramdas Athavale's defeat in Shirdi constituency was seen as renewed expression of Pawar's back-stab politics.

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Marathwada Divided

Finally Ashok Chavan has delivered that blow which each politician does at one or other point of time. He has stolen the devisional office of revenue department from Latur, which is former chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh’s constituency. The new divisional commissionerate, which will be carved out of Aurangabad division will be set up at Nanded, the constituency of Chavan himself.

The entire Marathwada region comprising of Aurangabad, Latur, Nanded, Parbhani, Jalna, Usmanabad, Beed and Hingoli fell under the revenue division of Aurangabad. there was a proposal to divide the the division into two separate divisions of four districts each. The proposal was pending for many years and it was almost decided that the new division will be set up at Latur. Many divisional offices of various state government departments were set up in Latur. About 35 to 40 such offices are required for the commissonerate and 32 of them are already set up in Latur. Given the long tenure of Deshmukh, it was a forgone conclusion that the thing is decided. But lady luck smiled on Chavan before 2008 bid adieu and he found himself in the chair of chief minister.

At the time of change of guard, it was rumoured that Chavan was a prodigy of Deshmukh. But with this decision, not only has he shown that he has a existence of his own, he can take tough decisions also. On the face of it, this decision is a rational one. Given the geographical location of Latur and Nanded, it is unarguably far easier to travel to latter. Better connectivity with road and rail facility is also a plus point for it. Distiricts of Latur, Parbhani, Hingoli and Nanded will be under the new division. All three districts beside Nanded are just three hours away while it takes at least five hours to travel to Aurangabad.

As expected, the decision was welcomed wholeheartedly in Nanded but there was a violent reaction in Latur. An all party meeting was convened in Latur and a call for the district Band was given. But it does not seem to make any impact. the government machinery, including ministers and administrators, are too cunning to show their any move as a legal and valid one. If Chavan is to be believed, as he has given his reaction to the development, this decision was taken on the merit basis. His words seem to have some basis as a committee appointed for looking into the revenue division's bifuraction had recommended Nanded as the ideal place for the new commissionerate.

According to district gazeteer of Nanded, economic exploitation of available resources, initiative, co-operative efforts and financial backing will change the agrarian face of the district in a few years.

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